Aelia and Aerie
by WildMagic
Summary: Two twins, both training to be pages, and a dragon. wat more could u want?! the war on scanra is raging and wen Aerie is sent to the front line, how will Aelia save him?
1. Embyrwing

Disclaimer~ Tamora Pierce owns all of her characters. Any you don't recognize are mine like Aelia and Aerie. Enjoy!  
  
1 Aelia and Aerie  
  
Chapter One~ Embyrwing  
  
Kitten chirped and whistled causing Daine to look at her. "What's the matter Kit?" Daine asked. Kitten turned and pointed towards to doorway. What now? Daine thought but stood and walked outside. She stood in the hallway outside of the room she shared with Numair. She glanced up and down the hall and saw Alanna walking towards her carrying a lumpy blanket. Daine decided to puzzle over how Kitten knew Alanna was coming from so far away later. She walked over to meet Alanna and was surprised by the look of anxiety on Alanna's face. Alanna, whom she had seen just recently, must have acquired that look over the past few days.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Daine asked Alanna, concern in her voice.  
  
"Oh, um, actually yes. Here." Alanna handed her the bundle, which was surprisingly light. "I found it in the forest when I was out on a ride with George yesterday. I think you are the best to care for it." Daine looked puzzled but unwrapped the blanket. A gray reptilian head thrust itself through the folds in the blanket to look at Daine. It sniffed her while Daine proceeded to unwrap it. When she was done she got a big surprise. It was a dragon. A baby one, probably about Kit's age. It was red all over with hints of orange. Kitten stood up on her hind legs to get a good look at it. The two dragons sniffed each other as Daine looked on. As if to break the silence, Alanna said, "Should I get Tkaa?" She was referring to the basilisk that helped to teach Kitten in the ways of mortals and dragons.  
  
"Yes, that is probably a good idea," replied Daine.  
  
"What's a good idea?" Daine turned at the sound of the familiar voice and looked up into Numair's handsome face. Daine held up the bundle of dragon and blanket. Numair's jaw dropped at the sight of the dragon.  
  
"Where did you get that?" he asked.  
  
"Alanna found it. She's off to get Tkaa. You can ask her when she gets back."  
  
"Does it have a name?"  
  
"It is a she. And I'm guessing it does. We can ask Tkaa when he gets here."  
  
"What do you need to ask me?" came a thin whispery voice.  
  
"Hello Tkaa," Daine greeted him. "Has Alanna told you about the dragon yet?"  
  
"Yes she has."  
  
"Can you tell us what her name is and who she belongs too? Also how she got here if you can."  
  
Tkaa conversed mind-to-mind with the dragon for a moment before informing them. "Her name is Embyrwing. She belongs to a set of twins named Aelia and Aerie, a boy and a girl. If my memory serves me correctly they are training here in the palace as pages. She doesn't know how she got here, but she's here and I don't know how to return her. I can teach her with Kit if Aelia and Aerie don't mind."  
  
"I guess we should go speak to them. What class would the pages be in at the moment?"  
  
"They are in my class actually. I had to leave them in the care of Sir Myles so I could come here," said Numair. "I came to get you, Daine. I need you to do another demonstration of wild magic."  
  
"I, too, have a class at the moment and just came up to borrow Kit, essentially. I need to get back to it." With that Tkaa picked up Kit, handed Embyrwing to Numair, and left to finish his class.  
  
"I need to leave as well," said Alanna. "I need to speak with Jon." She turned on her heel and hurried away.  
  
"Why did Embyrwing let Alanna wrap her in a blanket?" asked Daine.  
  
"She is injured. Her foot is broken."  
  
"I can fix that." Daine took the dragon from Numair and proceeded to heal the broken bones. It was only a slight fracture and mended quickly. When that was finished they walked down to Numair's classroom. When they reached it the entire class looked up. Daine had visited them before and they like her a lot. She smiled around at them and walked to the front of the room with Numair.  
  
"Hello pages. Could Aelia and Aerie of New Point please come forward?" she asked. Two pages, identical in every way except hair length and the fact that one was a girl, the other a guy, came forward. They looked puzzled and then saw the little dragonet behind Daine.  
  
"That's Embyrwing!" cried the girl.  
  
"Yes, so it is. He was brought to us by Sir Alanna after she and George found her in the Royal Forest," replied Daine.  
  
"Can we have him back?" the boy ventured.  
  
"Yes of course you may. First, though, I want to know where you got her."  
  
"We found her."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"In New Point. In a cave."  
  
"Was there a mother?"  
  
"No. We left her and came back a week later to find her starving and half dead. We've nursed her back to health." This was the girl again.  
  
"You're sure about that?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Of course they're sure. The mother would have ravaged the fief and all that lies around it searching for her young. You know how they are." Numair had decided to input on the discussion as well.  
  
"Oh, right. Would you know, I'd fair forgotten!" She chuckled and then bent to pick up Embyrwing. She wasn't there. Daine looked up to see the dragonet as interested with the pages as they were in her. She grinned and walked over to scoop the dragon up. She brought the baby to the front of the room again, handed it to Aerie, and turned to leave. "Goodbye students. Goodbye Numair, see you tonight." She waved and left the class in peace again.  
  
To Daine's surprise, when Numair returned that night he brought Aelia and Aerie with him along with the baby dragon.  
  
"We – we don't know how to take care of her," started Aerie, sounding embarrassed.  
  
"So we were wondering, could you maybe take care of her for a little while?" this was Aelia.  
  
"Of course! Tkaa will do the teaching and he can return her to you afterwards," replied Daine.  
  
"Thank you so much! Maybe she'll be as smart as Kitten!"  
  
"Of course she will with Tkaa on the case."  
  
The twins trotted off toward the door looking decidedly happier.  
  
"Oh yes, by the way, her nickname is Emby, just so you know!" called Aerie over his shoulder and he slammed the door behind him.  
  
  
  
~A/N~ After this the story will be all about Aelia and Aerie and Embyrwing. I need opinions so PLEEZ (I'm begging you) pleez review!!! Thanx much  
  
WildMagic (AKA Emily) 


	2. Twins

Disclaimer~ (why do we have to do these damn things?!) not mine, never will be  
  
A/N~ I made a mistake in the last one! When I put "don't know how to take care of her" I meant to put "don't know how to teach her." So sorry for the confusion! Please ask to borrow characters!! Thanx!  
  
Chapter Two~ Twins  
  
"Thank the Goddess Lady Alanna found Emby!" sighed Aelia as the twins trotted back to the pages wing.  
  
"Yes, that was some luck. I thought we'd lost her," replied her twin. The pair continued to trot back to the hall and when they reached Aelia's room they bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways.  
  
The next morning Aelia awoke early, as usual, to practice with her sword. She was small and quick and deft with a sword but practiced anyway to get better. As a fourth year page she had to work extra hard to be chosen as a squire. While she practiced her brother slept. He couldn't be bothered enough to practice. When the amazingly loud and annoying bell rang to wake the rest of the palace Aelia sighed and put down her blade. Her maid, Irene, bustled in to start a fire and heat water for a bath. Aelia had told her maid long ago in her first year not to awaken when Aelia herself did. Irene was a pretty girl. Only a year older than Aelia, the two had become close friends.  
  
"Your bath is ready Aely," called Irene from the dressing room.  
  
"Thanks Irene," replied Aelia as she stripped off her nightgown and hopped into the hot water.  
  
When her bath was done, she pulled on the breast band, loincloth, loose white shirt, and blue breeches. The blue set off the stone gray eyes and blonde locks she shared with her brother. To finish the ensemble, she pulled on her black boots, stuck her dagger in a boot, and clipped her sword to her belt. When she was done, she picked up Emby and strolled out into the hallway to meet her brother and their best friends, Hayden of Grayslake and Schuler of Eagles Peak. They greeted each other and ran off towards the mess hall, joking and laughing the whole way. When they got there they joined their other friends at their usual table and waited for Lord Wyldon, who'd returned as training master, to arrive. They chattered mindlessly until he did.  
  
Lord Wyldon walked to the head of the dais and raised his arms heavenward. "Mithros, please bless this day, help us to strive for higher things, and forgive our enemy's." The pages recognized the cue and said in unison, "So mote it be." When Lord Wyldon had stepped off the dais, the pages and squires that were left dug into their breakfast.  
  
"Shhh Emby!" said Aelia, trying to quiet the dragon.  
  
"Hey Aely, wanna have a match with swords?" Aelia looked up to see Schuler grinning wickedly at her. He knew of her morning practice sessions and liked to tease her about it.  
  
"Sky…we have training…"she drawled. Sky laughed and turned to talk to Aerie. Aelia at in silence, thinking about the day and absent-mindedly feeding Emby.  
  
When it was time to go to training, Aelia and Aerie stood and scooped up Emby. They walked up to Daine's room to deposit the dragon for Tkaa's care. When they got there Aelia explained about how Emby learned in their classes and that they would return for her at the end of lunch.  
  
With that, they ran off to their rooms to pick up their bows, quivers, and swords. They ran out onto the yards skidding to a stop in front of Sergeant Ezeko.  
  
"You're late again, pages Aelia and Aerie of New Point. That's the third time this month." They turned to see Lord Wyldon looking on from across the yard. "You will complete two bells each in the pages armory for a week every night after dinner. Return to your training." They had learned long ago in their first year to take every punishment without complaint.  
  
At the end of sword practice, the great bell tolled and the pages ran off to archery. There, Aelia walked to where the most advanced pages worked. She pulled out, and strung, her mahogany wood bow. Today the advanced pages got a treat and Daine helped them. She was the best archer in the palace but only came to help occasionally. When she did, the pages tended to improve. Today, she decided to have an archery contest with them to see how far along they were. Aerie shot first and got a bull's eye, as he almost always did. Then when they had all shot and gotten the center of the target, Daine moved their target to the willow ring, the hardest target in the palace. Daine shot first, her arrow flying smoothly through the center. Aelia shot next and got the same outcome, as did Aerie. They were the only two pages to hit that target.  
  
"Fantastic!" said Daine. "You've gotten very good, you two. You can have the rest of the time off or you can play with the fun arrows. The rest of you work on this target." She turned and was gone. Aelia and Aerie looked at each other and conversed mind-to-mind, a power only they had with their Gifts.  
  
Shall we play or rest? asked Aelia.  
  
Play said Aerie.  
  
The two of them walked into the shed where the extra bows and quivers of arrows were kept. They walked to where the fun arrows were kept and both selected one quiver of each the flaming, barbed, and exploding arrows. They wandered back out to the archery range and played with the arrows for the rest of the hour. When the bell sounded they walked out to the stables, talking to Sky and Hayden as they went. When they got there they split and went to their stalls. Aelia walked over to where her horse, Vixen, stood in her stall. She was a chestnut beauty with a white mane, tail, and stockings. She had a white star on her nose. Vixen whickered as Aelia walked into the stall and lipped her outstretched palm, stealing the sugar cube that was in it.  
  
While she did this, Aerie walked to his stall across the stable. His horse, Panda, also the sister to Aelia's Vixen, was black with a white mane, tail, and stockings. He, too, had a white star on his nose. Aerie walked in with an apple in her outstretched palm, which Panda took happily. While Panda munched, Aerie saddled up and met Aelia at the entrance to the stables.  
  
After an hour of horseback riding the pages went to Shang combat. When that was over Aelia bid goodbye to her brother and friends, who bathed in the bathhouses, and jogged off to her room for a bath. When she got there, Irene had her bath ready. Aelia sank into the hot water and sighed. New weights had been added to the vests only two days ago and she was just getting used to them. When her bath was done, she stepped out and donned a violet shirt and black breeches along with soft violet slippers. She clipped on her dagger and walked out to lunch, joining Aerie, Sky, and Hayden in the mess hall.  
  
After lunch the pages went back to their rooms to retrieve their books for the afternoon classes. Aelia ran to get her books, telling the boys she'd meet them in class and ran to get Emby before her first class, reading, with the Mithran priests.  
  
When she ran into class and slid into her seat between Sky and Hayden.  
  
"Where is your brother?" the priest asked Aelia. It was only then that she noticed he wasn't there.  
  
"I don't know," she replied.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course not, I am incapable of recognizing my own twin," she snapped and immediately regretted it.  
  
"Aelia of New Point, for your pertness you will do an extra chapter in you book. Now get to work, all of you!"  
  
"Thanks Aely, now he's in a bad mood," whispered Sky.  
  
"Do you know where Aerie is?" she asked quietly.  
  
"No, sorry."  
  
"It's alright. I need to ask you something anyway. What should I get him for Midwinter? I can't think of anything good!"  
  
"Well, he's been clamoring for new tack for Panda."  
  
"You're right. I totally forgot. Thanks Sky."  
  
"Anytime." With that the two of them got back to work, though Aelia was thinking more about where her brother was, when Lord Wyldon's personal servant came in and spoke to Master Yayin.  
  
"Aelia, please come forward," the priest said.  
  
"Yes, Master?" she asked.  
  
"My Lord wishes to speak to you, my lady," replied the servant. "Will you please come with me?" Aelia followed the man out, leaving Emby with Hayden and shrugging at her friends' inquisitive looks.  
  
"Get back to work, Schuler of Eagles Peak and Hayden of Grayslake," she heard Master Yayin say behind her retreating back.  
  
When she reached Lord Wyldon's rooms she smiled to see Aerie inside. She bowed to the lord and then turned on her brother.  
  
"Where were you? Master Yayin was wondering."  
  
"Ahem," Lord Wyldon cleared his throat.  
  
"Sorry, my lord," said Aelia submissively.  
  
"The two of you were brought here to be informed that, as you know, there is a war raging between us and Scanra." Aelia waited for him to continue, knowing he would not have taken them out of class to inform them of this incredibly obvious tidbit of information. "Because of your overwhelming Gift, and the fact that you can use it for anything, much like lady Alanna, you will both be sent to the front line to help the war mages. Lady Daine, Numair Salmalin, and Sir Alanna, along with a squid of the Own, will be accompanying you. Sir Raoul will be leading the Own. But, for you to be sent, you must be taken on as squires. Since the need is great, and you are so ahead in you classes, my lord chamberlain had agreed to hold the big examinations to a week from today. A few days after that you will be leaving. You may go." The twins were stunned. Be taken on as squires almost half a year early? What if they failed? They knew they wouldn't but the possibility was still out there. Did they really have such strong magic that they would be passed early?  
  
A/N~ Please review and tell me what you think!! Please correct me if I made any mistakes, I didn't look anything up… Also, I can't figure out how to do accents so bear with me (on Salmalin)! Should I continue or is it pointless? Need help and ideas!! Should Aelia end up with one of her friends, Sky or Hayden? HELP!!!!  
  
Thanks much, WildMagic aka Emily 


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